First level 23 mana troop - the painstaking process of upgrading a troop

[The_Seeker]

After 1 year and 4 months, I finally got my first l 23 mana troop (dark one) and I’m writing this post for those who might want to know how long it takes and what was the process.

I would say that I am a well above average active player, but not in the very top tier. I bought occasional offers that also contained ETT and probably I did in total in this period of time about 10 10-pull for troops.

I learned early enough about the importance of mana troops (especially the l23 ones), so after 1-2 months of playing I started to save all my troop feeders for mana troop.

I also started to produce 1* and 2* troop feeders in my hero Academy around 2-3 months ago.

In this particular element (dark), I only have this l23 mana troop and a 4* crit troop that I got early one and I took it to level 6 in the first couple of months. I also have a couple of level 2 Ninja troops.

My way of levelling is generally (I do exceptions sometimes according to some priorities):

• Up to level 11 I feed 1* troops
• L 11- l 17, I feed 2* troops
• L 17 - L 23, I feed 3* troops

I only got a Dark mana troop after about one year and I don’t have any other dark mana troop. This is actually what allowed me to have enough feeders for it. For my other elements, while I have a l17, a l 11 and a l 5 troop, I have problems going forward because I don’t have enough feeders.

So for a player like myself, taking a mana troop from l 1 to l 23 took about 4 months (farms are almost maxed, only one Advanced Farm is left at level 9), but I had enough feeders for it. Worth to mention is that I don’t buy food (I do get the free crates from the premium PoV though)

Now most of my 3* feeder reserve is depleted, so I would need around one more year to get a second troop to l 23 if I start to focus on producing troops in my Heroes Academy.

The irony is that all my maxed Dark 5* either have the mana node or they are fast, so I don’t need this l23 for them. But it does wonders now with my 3.70 Grimble, which I can fire much more easier before dying. And no stress for maxing average heroes in the future

[Blink0805]

congrats on this feat.
it takes a lot of time to max a troop, i am also using my HA for troops as well, but the downside is that you dont get to choose which you want so its up to the game to choose who gets fed first.
i cant wait to get my troops to a decent lvl before i start on the next 4* to make my teams stronger

[yoyotje]

I only recently really understood the importance of Mana troops. My roster has been lacking speed a lot and with the recent addition of Zagrog and Sun Shangxiang to my roster I tried to build one of those monsterous 9tile teams that you see around. Mana troops are so important!

I’ve set leveling my heroes on a pause and are full time leveling troops right now. As I didn’t really focus on them past one rainbow 17 I have a TON of troops.

But my biggest drawback with leveling troops is that it is so boring . I can feed probably like 20 troops a day with the amount of food I have available but it is so much more interesting to level new heroes! Guess I need to have patience .

[BlackZed]

Congrats! It takes a while without throwing $$$ into the equation.

Kudos on your perseverance!

Wishing you many many 1/2* troop feeders when you farm!

May you only draw 1/2/3* troop feeders from your free daily summon.

May you receive heaps of ETT from your loot.

Enjoy your Mana 23 trips!

[Gimliv]

I needed 26 months in the game to bring my troops to this level:

You can shave off one tile from every hero with a lvl23 mana troop and a 2% mana talent node. Thats the reason I stop at lvl23 and start on the next mana troop. I play mono or sometimes 3-2 so my goal is at least have three mana troops in every color. If you have a 4% mana node in talent tree (monk, Druid ) only a lvl17 mana troop is needed to shave off one tile, with costume bonus lvl11 or lvl5 are sufficient. Thats the reason I will go for 23-17-11-5 or 23-17-11-11 before working on the lvl23 mana troop again. To shave a tile off is key winning in VF wars. You need only two matches (6 tiles) and you can fire your specials. Normally in VF its game over if you could fire three or more specials.
Even 7 tiles instead of eight in the other war formats is an advantage: For 8 tiles you normally need 3 matches, you can do 7 tiles with a 3- and a 4-tile match. With enough firepower its effectively game over. A Frida, Morell, Lepus combination will kill at least 3 opponents.

Happy gaming

[The_Seeker]

@BlackZed Thanks a lot for your whishes, I only worry though that if they come true, RNG/SG will never give me a good 5* hero again As a side note, I only got in 1 year and 4 month one single 5* Atlantis hero: Poseidon (+ costume). I just maxed him and today I got my second Atlantis 5* hero: POSEIDON

@Gimliv Congrats for your troops as well - the extra 2% you are talking about are useful for fast heroes, but I love how even l11 troops can make an average Druid or Monk fire in 9 tiles

[BlackZed]

Ha ha congrats on your Poseidon twins. They are both useful.

[freetgy]

gz i am playing i think for now 3 years plus and only start getting to level 23

[Luna]

@Gimliv

sufficient. Thats the reason I will go for 23-17-11-5 or 23-17-11-11

Do I work on mana troops to get them to 23-17-11 or work on cyclops troops

I have a set of label 23 mana troops in each colour and a set of level 12 cyclops in each colour! My second set of mana troops are now at level 8! Do I do a second set of mana troops (take them to 17) or a set of cyclops troops?

@Gimliv
@The_Seeker

Your advice will be greatly appreciated

[Zack]

@Luna

I have a set of label 23 mana troops in each colour and a set of level 12 cyclops in each colour! My second set of mana troops are now at level 8! Do I do a second set of mana troops (take them to 17) or a set of cyclops troops?

My recommendation would be to keep leveling these level 8 mana troops and bring them to level 11. This takes only 4350 XP more and then they can help a lot with fast wars and fast tournaments.

Then I would switch over to the second set of styx troops.
I would get them to level 12 at least, probably even all the way up to level 27 for the +20% mana generation bonus. The +20% mana generation will primarily help your defending team. It can also help your attacking team in certain situations where there are additional mana generation bonuses and heroes that provide 10% mana to all. Styx heroes need 20% mana generation to charge their first special in 5 tiles.

My current raid team has Ray and R&N. I just brought a red styx troop to level 23. With the +17% mana generation and R&N’s +2% from rogue class she can charge in 6 tiles 50% of the time when Ray’s passive activates and gives 10% mana to all.

[Luna]

That’s so helpful @Zack

Much appreciated!

Following your advice

[The_Seeker]

@Luna Agree about taking your mana troops at 11. This means you would have three troops at l23-l12-l11. But then I would get your first Cyclops troops as high as possible (ideally l27).

You can also work in parallel on the second Cyclops troops by feeding them 1* troops and to the more advanced one only 2* and 3* troops

[Gimliv]

Bring the 2nd set of nana troops to 11, thats the next mana breakpoint, then the cyclops troops to 16, thats their next breakpoint.
Then you have a good set of troops for a 3/2 attack.

Happy gaming

[Luna]

Thanks @Zack @The_Seeker and @Gimliv

Much appreciated

So Mana l23 and l11 now and

Cyclops l12

Next: cyclops to level 27 and a next set of cyclops to l11! Cyclops or magic for the 4th set ? Does it matter ?
I usually raid 3-2 or 3-1-1 but rarely do 4-1 so I guess the 4th set is not desperate?

[Zack]

@Luna

Cyclops or magic for the 4th set ? Does it matter ?

Both can give +20% mana generation, so they are comparable. Styx troops give bypass, which can be quite useful for heroes with direct damage specials, whereas magic troops give a slightly higher stat bonus and a healing bonus, which is more useful for healers and heroes with no direct damage special.

I prefer leveling styx troops over magic troops because they require much less XP (7525 XP less) for reaching the +20% mana generation.

@Luna

I usually raid 3-2 or 3-1-1 but rarely do 4-1 so I guess the 4th set is not desperate?

Yes, the 4th and 5th mana/magic/styx troop for 9% mana generation is strongly recommended only, if you use 4-1 and mono sometimes. (I play a lot of mono in wars and tournaments, therefore I have 5 troops in each colour for fast wars/tournaments)